Since 1989 one of
the favorite Christmas movies has been Die Hard starring Bruce Willis who plays
an officer of the NYPD, tries to
save wife Holly Gennaro and several others, taken hostage by German terrorist
Hans Gruber during a Christmas party at the Nakatomi Plaza in Los Angeles. The
villain Hans Gruber played by Alan Rickman becomes entangled with Officer
McClane and the action begins.

The hero of the movie is Officer McClane who one by one
eliminates Gruber’s group of villains until there are no more, including the
death of Gruber at the end of the movie. Anyone watching the movie would
instantly want to find a job in law enforcement and be just like Officer
McClane.

The show became a big hit with many other sequels being
produced over the years. McClane is a rough and tough individual who is a very
determined law enforcement officer. No one can out do him and no one can beat
him. He is simply the best at what he does.

Most law enforcement officers give their all every day. They
report to duty and do their best and try to give the community what they expect
from them which is to protect and serve them.

When law enforcement responds to a complaint that a possible
crime is occurring then the thought process of what investigative steps they should
initiate comes from an educated and trained mind which is always processing the
“what ifs” scenarios. These types of “lessons learned” comes from the
astronomical amount of training hours each officer receives in the law
enforcement academy, seminars, conferences, webinars, and many other learning
venues.

The first responder must mentally process all of the
potential dangerous scenarios which he may face as he responds to the complaint
that a crime may have just occurred or is occurring. The education and training
will provide answers too what the possibilities should be if confronted with a hostile
situation. If the officer is confronted with a perpetrator who is hostile the
officer must immediately gain the advantage in this situation, possibly using
deadly force to protect others and him.

In dealing with perpetrators over the years the law
enforcement officer must understand why a perpetrator does what he does and if
the actions by the perpetrator seem reasonable and logical then the officer
must consider why he is doing what he is doing. The officer must immediately
take advantage of the perpetrator during the contact with him, from the initial
contact to the possible interrogation. The officer must position himself in
such a manner that he is thinking six steps ahead of this individual.

If the officer can visualize what his expectations and goals
are with the perpetrator this may provide the officer with a game plan in how
to control the perpetrator. There is no reason for the officer to lose control
of any situation with the perpetrator. Being on guard at all times, the officer
must maintain control of the perpetrator.

The officer must take the investigation from the viewpoint
that he will produce positive results, hopefully resolving the complaint
without having to affect an arrest. Conflict resolution should be the main goal
the officer should attempt to reach during the initial investigation. When it
comes to allegations of child sexual assault allegations the first responder
should take the necessary information from the complainant and any witnesses at
the alleged crime scene and forward the information to his supervisor who will
then send the investigation to the Sexual Assault Unit (SAU).

It is prudent and a necessity that the officer demonstrates
that what he is doing is to make sure he is taking the proper steps to obtain
positive results. The initial fact finding investigation must be result(s)
oriented. The officer who eventually is assigned to investigate the case wants
the first responder to demonstrate initiative and to perform any investigative
steps he can take at the time he has all of the parties at the crime scene.

When the follow-up officer receives the paperwork to
investigate the allegations and there has been little to nothing done, this
demonstrates that this first responding officer doesn’t understand what his
role is and what investigative steps should have been taken.

Once the first responder has thoroughly and completely performed
his responsibilities the assigned officer will then complete the investigation taking
the proper steps to uncover the truth. Keeping this in mind the officer, if
competent and intelligent, will consider a multitude of alternative hypothesis
to pursue, eliminate, and culminate with a final hypothesis.

In interviewing the alleged child victim the child should
provide the investigator with enough information about what happened between
her and the alleged perpetrator. Depending on the child’s age, obtaining
specific and factual information may be difficult, as young children may have
difficulty in detailing what exactly took place. If the interview is futile
this may indicate that the child was not sexually assaulted or the child was
sexually assaulted and is incapable of disclosing the sexual assault.

When a law enforcement officer is assigned a case where the
non-offending parent states that her three year-old child disclosed that the
offending parent sexually assaulted her, this should immediately concern the
investigator that something may be a mist.
This scenario has always been a complex set of circumstances as the reliability
and credibility of the “origin” or “genesis” of the disclosure is placed into
question.

The type of questioning the non-offending parent utilized to
allow the child to tell her story may cause the statements not to be allowed in
a court of law. There are hearsay exceptions, but if the non-offending parent
lead or suggested the child into disclosing that she was sexually assaulted
this may be problematic for law enforcement and eventually the prosecutor who
has to make the decision to file criminal charges.

Another complex issue is when the officer receives a report
that a child has disclosed that she was sexually assaulted to the non-offending
adult (generally the mother or grandmother) and during the interview the child
does not disclose to the forensic child sexual assault interviewer the same
information this may become problematic.

The forensic interviewer may become frustrated and turn the
interview into a coercive, misleading, leading, suggestive, multiple choices,
and many other inappropriate question fests. Law enforcement and prosecutors
who are generally not trained in the art of forensic child sexual assault
interviewing believe that what the child said is the “truth” no matter what interview
methods and techniques were utilized to obtain the information.

Law enforcement officials do not evaluate their forensic interviewer
and how the statements of the child came about. Instead the officials become
part of the inappropriate interview process. The inappropriate interview
process has a ripple effect to it; the child and her testimony become “damaged
goods.”

The alleged child victim, witnesses, forensic interviewer, law
enforcement officers, and the physical, biological, and trace evidence (after
the investigation is allegedly completed) will be examined and evaluated by
outside law enforcement professionals who may come to the immediate conclusion
that the forensic interviewer over stepped her boundaries, contaminated and
tainted the interview with the child.

Further, that the witnesses were motivated to bring false
witness against the alleged perpetrator in retaliation of some previous and
formidable dispute; which left everyone upset with him and reason(s) to make
the false claims; using the child as a pawn.

The dialogue between the alleged child victim and the
forensic interviewer is generally digitally recorded and videotaped and a
transcript of the interviews will be transcribed and can be reviewed by
professional child sexual assault interviewers to determine if the forensic
interviewer abided by the specific forensic protocol and procedure the criminal
justice system in her community utilizes.

The specific role of the investigator is to obtain the
truth. The investigator must take in everything which has occurred in the case
and weigh all of the evidence to determine if there is a reasonable and logical
explanation for the alleged disclosures and how they were obtained. The
statements made by the alleged perpetrator should be given the same weight as
those of the alleged child victim and the complainant and witnesses.

The officer has many tools available to use during the
fact-finding process. A tool which is commonly utilized by law enforcement is
the polygraph. There are many people in the criminal justice system which gives
the polygraph no weight at all and others who believe in the utilization of it giving
it great weight.

In law enforcement the polygraph is utilized for many
purposes, but most importantly to convince the alleged perpetrator that it is
time to come forward and take responsibility for the sexual assault of the
child. In many child sexual assault cases the polygraph has turned the
perpetrator into what is known as a “runner.” A “runner” is someone who is
contacted by law enforcement reference a child sexual assault, is interrogated,
denies the allegations, and after a specific amount of time the officer asks
the alleged perpetrator if he would take a polygraph.

In this situation the alleged perpetrator agrees to take the
polygraph at a later date and time and the officer agrees and schedules the
polygraph sometime during the week. During his absence away from the officer,
he contacts an attorney and the attorney advises him not to take the polygraph.
The alleged perpetrator or the attorney then calls the officer to inform him of
the bad news, that there will be no polygraph.

The above scenario could have been avoided if the officer
would have had the alleged perpetrator polygraphed at the initial contact at
the law enforcement agency. In comparing this scenario with a purchase of a
boat or car, the salesman knows if the individual who wants to purchase a car
leaves the lot without purchasing a car the salesman will never see him again.

Alleged perpetrators if properly interviewed can make or
break an investigation being performed by a law enforcement officer. The officer
must control how the investigation has to be handled. If the officer has to be
a car salesman to push an alleged perpetrator towards taking a polygraph then he
needs to take advantage of the date, time, and most importantly the place.

Too often the witnesses and the alleged perpetrator try to
control every aspect(s) of the investigation. The officer must confront these
types of individuals and explain to them the investigative process. The process
includes the officer being a neutral, objective, competent, and intelligent
officer who takes no sides during the fact finding investigation. This investigative
attitude by the officer may surprise some victims, witnesses, or perpetrators,
but this investigative attitude has to be an investigative ideology which is
made and kept in stone.

Being Officer John McClane looks like it would be exciting,
fun, and thrilling. However, there is more to being a professional law
enforcement officer than shoot-em up and kill all the bad guys. Being a law
enforcement officer takes an individual who has morals, courage, intelligence,
and a strong character. An investigation of child sexual assault is complicated
where the decisions by the officer can bring reliability and credibility to the
allegation or prove it them to be false.

There are many forensic child interview policies, protocols,
and processes which will produce positive results when interviewing an alleged
child sexual assault victim. The forensic interviewer must abide by these rules
as straying from them because a child doesn’t confirm what an upset
non-offending parent believes their partner or spouse did to the child will
only bring about more questions about the competency of the interviewer.

The first responder must do everything and anything he can
when he is assigned to answer a complaint. Failing to deal with the tasks and
responsibilities of the job will cause an alleged child victim to be
re-victimized or an innocent man to be sent to jail, losing his freedom. If law
enforcement officers do what is asked of them by their community and enforces
the laws of the city, county, state, and federal and performs a complete and
thorough investigation during each complaint minor or serious, then the
community and its citizens will continue to appreciate those who wear the
uniform.

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Lawrence Daly New Novel

Available in Paperback and Kindle

Now Available!

In the small town of Kent, just south of Seattle in Washington State there is a child serial rapist and murderer who has targeted young girls. Over an eight-year period, Victor has abducted, raped and murdered 12 young girls. Detectives Simon Stocker and Gus Hall begin the chase of Victor. Just when he appears to have disappeared, he abducts 12 year-old Brittany Redman and the chase is on again.

With the assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) and other law enforcement agencies, a task force is established to chase Victor down. Victor’s method of operandi is to abduct his victims and then they are found 72 hours later, dead.

The time to save Brittany is running out, Detectives Stocker, and Hall pull out all the stops to save her life. Will they be in time?

About Lawrence W. Daly

Lawrence W. Daly is the author of multiple sex crime non-fiction books and booklets. Lawrence is one of the leading experts in the field of child sexual abuse investigations. Chasing Victor is his newest adventure. This debut novel, an exciting thriller will keep you on your toes, wondering who Victor might be, and whether Detectives Stocker and Hall will succeed in chasing Victor down. A must read!

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Get Your Copy Here Today! A Great Read Which Keeps You Enthralled the Entire Story!

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Quotes

All that is necessary for the triumph of evil is that good men do nothing. ~ Edmund Burke

That which we persist in doing becomes easier to do, not that the nature of the thing has changed but that our power to do has increased. ~ Ralph Waldo Emerson

An informed citizenry is the only true repository of the public will. ~ Thomas Jefferson

Faith is taking the first step even when you don't see the whole staircase ~ Martin Luther King Jr.

Here's to the crazy ones, the misfits, the rebels, the troublemakers, the round pegs in the square holes... the ones who see things differently -- they're not fond of rules... You can quote them, disagree with them, glorify or vilify them, but the only thing you can't do is ignore them because they change things... they push the human race forward, and while some may see them as the crazy ones, we see genius, because the ones who are crazy enough to think that they can change the world, are the ones who do. ~Steve Jobs US computer engineer & industrialist (1955 - 2011 )